Family

If the world is to be brought to order, my nation must first be changed. If my nation is to be changed, my hometown must be made over. If my hometown is to be reordered, my family must first be set right. If my family is to be regenerated, I myself must first be.

A. Purnell Bailey quoting a Chinese general.

Home

Making a house work for you, getting it to deliver the emotional rewards—love, personal expression, and a sense of well-being—requires knowing yourself and knowing how you'd like to live. Your house is that special place where you can be you. JoAnn Barwick

Home is a feeling ... of peace, comfort, and satisfaction. A sanctuary to rest, heal, and refresh, knowing this is where I belong. Mary Huff Chandler

The house that Geoff built.

Of course Geoff didn't really build this house, but his work and effort and planning and careful attention to detail provided for and oversaw it's completion. We moved in, in August 2006 and making it our home has been a process and a labor of love that we are still working at.

Now

We learn only when it is too late that the marvel is the passing moment. Francois Mitterand

This is where I share some of my most favorite everyday life images. I called this gallery 'Now' to help me remember that now barely exists. Now is just one tiny slice of the present—a fleeting moment in the blurr of a busy day, which can be captured if I'm ready and willing. I am so grateful that on occasion, my ready and willing come together for a photo like these!

I Love this quote, "The more I give myself permission to live in the moment without feeling guilty or judgmental about any other time, the better I feel about the quality of my work."Wayne Dyer

Stories of Us

Do you know how your parents met?Do you know where some of your grandparents grew up?Do you know the source of your name?

These questions are a few of the twenty that are now known as the “Do You Know Scale” (DYK), which seeks to obtain knowledge about family history from young people. Higher scores on the DYK scale are associated with higher levels of self-esteem, stronger self-control, lower levels of anxiety, better family functioning and fewer behavioral, educational and emotional difficulties (The Stories That Bind Us, NYT) Scrapbooking is fun. We all know this. It’s a wonderfully purposeful and creative outlet, but did you know that you could leverage your passion for scrapbooking in a way that will benefit the success of your family life? You can. In fact, research is showing that the single most important thing you can do for your family is to develop a strong family narrative—especially one in which there are ups and downs, or a theme of resiliency.

“All any of us wanted, really, was to know that we counted. That someone else’s life would not have been as rich without us here.” ~Jodi Picoult, Handle With Care

I called my sister not too long ago and asked her, “If you could only share three family stories with your children, which stories would they be?” As we analyzed her responses together, we discovered the larger themes around each of her stories. They are …

A story where the legacy of a family value is shared.

A story about the origins of your immediate family.

A story that shares personal challenges, which ultimately helped you, to develop character and fortitude.

What would your top three stories be and what do you feel they would accomplish?

Obviously, there is no right or wrong way to tell a story and certainly no test for whether a story is important enough to tell, but there are stories that are universally important. These are the stories of who people in your family are, where they lived and what they did and believed. There are stories about good times and stories about hard times, stories about gathering and stories about separation and loss. Some of these stories are easy to remember and talk about, while others are so difficult to revisit that they are rarely considered, let alone shared. This much we know, whether you’re a scrapbooker or a social scientist: Family stories need to be told, the voices of our loved ones love to be heard and our unique perspectives should be shared.

Stories of People

"In life, you will realize that there is a role for everyone you meet. Some will test you some will use you, some will love you, and some will teach you. But the ones who are truly important are the ones who bring out the best in you. They are the rare and amazing people who remind you why it's worth it." —Unknown

In all of our efforts to document life, no documentation is more essential than recording those, whom we adore, love and admire. These people often get lost in the context of other things—they are in our photos, at our parties and with us at the places we go, but if we are not careful they (as individuals) can actually get left out of our stories. Who are the people that surround you? How did you meet them? What is it that makes them unique and special? Why do you value their presence and their perspective? The topic of people most certainly encompasses family, both immediate family and extended family—and be sure to record personality traits as well as specific details and memories about the people you live with and love most of all—but … don’t forget to photograph, collect pictures of and write about your friends, neighbors, teachers, coaches, co-workers, political and religious leaders, fellow-citizens and even public figures or famous personalities that you admire and/or follow. If someone’s influence is felt in your life, they ought to be considered worthy of a tribute in your scrapbook story. People matter!

Stories of Things

At first glance, stories of “things” probably seems like a great catch-all, but I’m anxious for you to scrapbook objects, events, actions, conditions, etc… that you might not have previously considered. And before you can scrapbook anything, you’ll probably want to photograph it. So, pull out your camera and get a picture of the painting that you have that was given to you by your grandmother, the MOPS meeting you attend once a month, your trusty treadmill that rescues you during the endless overcast drizzle of early spring, or the shoes stacked up by the back door—signifying that everyone is home! What are the things that you treasure, you depend on, you abhor and/or appreciate and what about something you choose to see in a new, more positive light? Those are things I want you to slow down, recognize and scrapbook.

Maybe you love cats or cauliflower, trees or tapestry—whatever it is; it can be a part of your story! Have you scrapbooked your son’s obsession with Legos? What about your husband’s Harley, your daughter’s collection of Hello Kitty or the songs on your “1980s” playlist—and don't your favorite cleaning products! Once you get the hang of noticing all of these everyday things, spend some time exploring your mind and heart for personal opinions, values, principles and ideas that can also be categorized as “things.” What do you believe about God and the universe? How do you feel about the condition of the world, your government, and your family? What philosophies ring true to you? Why?